How To Recycle Your Office Equipment The Right Way

By Author: Don Zone
Total Articles: 5
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Every office encounters the problem of what to do with old office equipment from desks and chairs to computers, laptops and monitors.
Many charities and non-profits accept office furniture for drop-off or have a free pick-up service. For example the Salvation Army pickup service collects office furniture from Palo Alto, San Mateo and most of the Peninsula at no charge.
One of the joys of disposing of office furniture is that for the most part it does not contain any company information (except for the occasional office romance carved on the top) nor does it contain toxic materials such as mercury and lead. When collected they are re-homed anywhere from the North Bay to the South Bay. Items which cannot be re-homed are recycled for the most part in the East Bay at several facilities to wood chip or crude grade metals.
The issue surrounding the disposal of old PCs, notebooks and copiers is that they can contain confidential data stored on their hard disks. If improperly disposed of, the information saved to hard drives can be accessed and result in data theft.
All electronic devices even DVD players, ...
... printers and video game consoles contain heavy metals and other toxins that can be harmful to the environment. It is essential that these toxins are recycled responsibly.
When choosing an electronic waste Business Pickup service, ask questions! What happens to my hard disks, do I receive a certificate of destruction? What happens to my e-waste, does it get shipped overseas?
The majority of free pickup services collect old computer equipment from offices under the guise of recycling or donation. In reality most of these recycling facilities remove valuable materials such as the gold from motherboards, RAM and PC boards. The monitors, LCD screen and Flat panels are recycled in California as under the SB20 bill they are reimbursed by the state for recycling these items. The remaining material is considered low value and is often dumped overseas in developing countries.
This scrap is then sifted through under the poorest of working conditions to scavenge the small remaining value. The small value in lead solder and other heavy metals is reclaimed in the open air often using their own cooking pots.
In California there are well over 150 electronic waste recycling companies. Only 15 of them have signed the Basel Action Network (BAN) pledge of true stewardship. This pledge is focused on preventing the overseas dumping of electronic waste.
In summary the key things to look for when choosing an electronic waste business pickup service is to ensure that the company completing your business pick-up is a BAN e-steward, that they destroy all information stored on hard drives to department of defense standards and that they have a certificate of insurance filled with your property management just in case something is damaged in your office.

For more information about Business Pickup please visit http://www.greencitizen.com/what_we_recycle.php